A broadband connection is not actually a wireless connection. In order to get a wireless broadband connection you have to get a wireless broadband router. It is important that you can answer the question what is a router and how you can compare the wireless routers available. You should consider why you need to have a wireless router. When you look at the wireless routers you have to consider where you can get them. Most people get wireless routers from their service providers. However, there are some providers that do not offer these wireless routers. If you are with one of these providers you have to purchase your router through another avenue. When you do this you have to know what to look for in your wireless router.
Why You Have to Get a Wireless Router The first question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you should actually get a router. People who need wireless routers generally have more than one device which connects to the internet; have a big house and a big family who all want to be online. If your computers are desktop devices that are not far from the broadband modem you may not need a wireless router. The reason for this is that you will be able to connection the computers to the modem through an Ethernet cable. To do this you only require the broadband modem and not a wireless router. What Are the Benefits of a Wireless Router? When looking into wireless routers it is best to know what the benefits are. When you know the benefits as well as the drawbacks you will be able to better understand the device.
You can connection multiple devices simultaneously. As the wireless signal does not have a limit on how many devices can connect to it your whole family will be able to. You can connect any device that can pick up wireless connections to the broadband when you have this kind of router.
Wireless routers offer you a wireless broadband connection. Many people use their laptops to connect to the internet when at home. This is done because laptops can be moved about and you are not fixed to one location. Wireless routers allow you to connect to the internet without being in a single location.
The speed of your connection is fast. While wireless signals do slow the speed a little the speed you get is still faster than many other options. What are the Drawbacks of a Wireless Router? Knowing what the benefits of the router are is ideal but they have to be viewed in conjunction with the drawbacks.
Wireless signals are not as secure as wired ones. If you have not properly secured your network other people could log on to it and use your broadband. They can also hack your computer and steal information. Wire connections offer better security as they do not have to be secured in the same manner.
Wireless router signal lack the stability of the wired connection. The signal sent out by the router can be affected by a number of factors. This is not something that happens when your computer is connected to the broadband by Ethernet cable. Signal interference is something that can easily happen. Devices which work on a certain frequency will cause signal interference if they are placed close to router. Signals which have to move through walls and other objects will also be weaker. Mirrors and glass objects have been known to cause signal interference as well.
What You Have to Consider When dealing with any type of technology you need to be aware of some terminology. You should also know what you need to look for in your wireless router.
The first consideration when looking at wireless routers is what you actually need to look for. Do you need an ADSL router or do you need a cable router? The type of router you have to get will be determined by the broadband connection. When you are looking at routers you may see the letters B, G and N on them. These letters have a meaning and you should know what that is. These numbers of the standard for telling you how fast your router can go which is very important depending on the connection you have. Routers with a B rating will be able to reach speeds of 11mb per second. Routers rated with a G are able to reach speeds of 54mb per second. Routers with an N rating are able to reach speeds of over 100mb per second. You might have come across the idea of channels while setting up your wireless router. There are different wireless channels and they will run on different broadcast frequencies. If a lot of people are using the same channel it will become congested and this will lead to lower speeds. If you are experiencing slow speeds then you may want to try changing the channel you are using.
The WEP key is the security key for your wireless connection. Of course WEP is not as secure as it once was so it is recommended that you not use this. You should always use the most secure protection. You can use WPA but WPA2 is a much better option. For additional security people add MAC address filtering.
The next question you might be asking is what is MAC address filtering? The MAC address is the unique code which has been assigned to your network adaptor. This should not be confused with the MAC code that you need when switching broadband providers. When you set up your wireless router you will be given the option to allow connections from only a specified MAC address. You will have to add the devices manually and individually otherwise they will not be able to connect. When you are looking at wireless routers there are many aspects that you should consider. You should know what speeds your router can handle as well as the benefits and drawbacks of having a wireless router.
Getting an answer to the question ‘What is a router?’ was not difficult for Sam Jones. He simply searched on sites like uSwitch for the information that he needed.